What: An educational exhibit featuring more than 50 life-size, animatronic dinosaurs, with activities and games for kids. It returns to Greeley beginning Friday, Dec. 30, 2016.

When: 3 p.m.-8 p.m. Friday; 9 a.m.-8 p.m. Saturday and Sunday

Where: Island Grove Regional Park, 501 N. 14th Ave. in Greeley

Cost: $15 for kids ages 2-12; $18 for seniors; $20 for ages 13-64; children younger than age 2 get in free. VIP tickets, which include unlimited rides, are $24 for kids ages 2-12. Law enforcement and military personnel and their families can save $2 on their tickets.

Arnold is one of the owners of Jurassic Quest, an interactive, nationally touring dinosaur exhibit that will be in Greeley this weekend, and the whimpers of kids indicate his animatronic dinosaurs are as realistic as he intends them to be.

"We try to turn the lights down and make it look like the dinosaurs are running around," Arnold said in 2014, when he first spoke to The Tribune about the event. Since that time, the event has doubled in size, organizers say. "They really do look real."

The main Jurassic Quest exhibit features more than 50 life-sized dinosaurs and several educational booths for kids.

The initial shock is part of the experience, Arnold said. But the exhibit isn't just about gazing at robots that look like enormous Cretaceous creatures.

His brother started the company about a year-and-a-half ago after attending a show called "Walking with Dinosaurs." The audience for that show sits back and watches a performance from the stands.

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Arnold said his brother left the show believing something was missing.

"There's no interaction," Arnold said. "It's more of an educational thing, sort of a Broadway show. For us, we wanted something more interactive."

Attendees can get their faces painted, make their way through play houses, dig up giant fossils and make arts and crafts. The dinosaurs themselves are far from stoic. The robots have moving ears, eyes and body parts, and a couple are even available to ride. Arnold, in fact, insists on concessions at his show because some spend a full day at the event.

"It's educational, but there's a lot of activities where kids can jump around and stuff," Arnold said. "But a person can spend lot of time just looking around in our exhibit, too.

"We had this stuff specially made and specially ordered from China, and we carry an engineer around with us to keep them functioning. We even put one of our guys in a dinosaur suit and have him move around the exhibit."

This is the first time the show will be in Greeley. Arnold said the company skipped over Fort Collins, Loveland and Longmont to make Greeley its northern Colorado destination after speaking with people in Denver about venues.

"We definitely looked at the economy, and I know Weld is doing extremely well," he said. "We figured it would have a good attendance there. Plus, we wanted to do it close to Christmas, and some of the places like Loveland have to be outside. So we were really happy to find a nice building that's indoors."

Depending on the show's success this time around, Arnold said the company may bring the dinos back for a few more screams.

"We definitely want to be back next year in December, but we'll possibly be here in June," he said. "But this one in Greeley, every inch of it will have something educational and fun."

Editor’s note: This story was first published on Jan. 1, 2015. It has since been updated to reflect the days and times for the event that begins on Dec. 30, 2016.

Jurassic Quest

What: An educational exhibit featuring more than 50 life-size, animatronic dinosaurs, with activities and games for kids. It returns to Greeley beginning Friday, Dec. 30, 2016.

When: 3 p.m.-8 p.m. Friday; 9 a.m.-8 p.m. Saturday and Sunday

Where: Island Grove Regional Park, 501 N. 14th Ave. in Greeley

Cost: $15 for kids ages 2-12; $18 for seniors; $20 for ages 13-64; children younger than age 2 get in free. VIP tickets, which include unlimited rides, are $24 for kids ages 2-12. Law enforcement and military personnel and their families can save $2 on their tickets.